Early Dive Pioneers: The 1980s Expeditions That Put Marsa Alam on the Map
A Coast No One Mentioned
In the early 1980s, Marsa Alam divers raved about Ras Mohammed and Hurghada. Meanwhile, three hours farther south, the shore was only dust tracks and Bedouin goat pens. Still, a few restless Red Sea guides and European club divers heard rumors of untouched reefs, playful spinner dolphins, and deep walls filled with pelagics.
So they acted. First, they packed tents, compressors, and small Zodiac boats into battered pickups. Next, they started a chain of rough “land-based safaris,” hopping from bay to bay every few days. For the first time, modern scuba bubbles rose above Marsa Shagra, Abu Dabbab, and the soaring pinnacles of Elphinstone Reef.
The Man in the Toyota Pickup
Leading these roving trips was Hossam Helmy, a young Egyptian instructor who left Hurghada’s fledgling dive shops for the frontier. By the late ’80s, Helmy and his crew slept under canvas, taught by hurricane lamps, and filled notebooks with sketches of each new reef. Their motto was clear: “Dive it before anyone moves in and harms it.” Those notebooks became the first site charts of Abu Ghusun’s wreck, Samadai (Dolphin House), and the iconic “house reef” at Marsa Shagra.
Tent Camps Become a Blueprint
Helmy’s sketches proved Marsa Alam could host permanent, eco-friendly bases—even before roads or power lines arrived. 1990, he founded Red Sea Diving Safari (RSDS) and signed long-term coastal leases. Soon, Bedouin tents and reed huts appeared in three coves—Marsa Shagra, Marsa Nafari, and Wadi Lahami. Thus, an improvised truck safari transformed into the Red Sea’s first purpose-built, sustainability-focused dive villages.
Elphinstone—the Site That Sealed the Deal
One reef justified every dusty kilometer: Elphinstone, a steep-walled cigar of limestone just offshore. News spread fast. Hammerheads, oceanic white-tips, manta rays, and vivid soft corals greeted the first teams, without northern-reef crowds. Consequently, liveaboards from Italy, Austria, and the UK began booking “Deep South” itineraries. They anchored at Helmy’s camps to refill tanks, load fresh water, and restock food. Even today, Elphinstone is the magnet that pulls advanced divers to Marsa Alam.
What the Pioneers Changed—A Legacy Checklist
| 1980s Safari Concept | Today’s Reality |
|---|---|
| Canvas tents & kerosene lamps | Solar-powered eco-lodges with Wi-Fi |
| Hand-drawn site sketches | GPS-mapped moorings & marine-park zones |
| Four-hour water runs | On-site desalination stations |
| Zero emergency backup | Hyperbaric chamber at Marsa Shagra |
Importantly, every upgrade kept the low-impact ethos: limit guest numbers, ban single-use plastics, and leave each reef exactly as you found it.
Pioneers—Not Just Operators
Those first overland safaris built a community, not a hotel strip. Bedouin Ababda fishermen became boat captains and dive guides. Biology graduates from Cairo opened a tiny reef-research lab that later helped create Wadi el-Gamal National Park. European instructors settled, married locally, and founded the coast’s first technical-diving school. Because of them, Marsa Alam feels like a protected marine outpost rather than a line of all-inclusive towers.
Why It Matters to Divers in 2025
- Crowd-free classics. Even in peak season, quotas keep Dolphin House to a handful of boats per day.
- Living history. Many RSDS guides have logged 10,000+ dives on the same reefs they first explored as teens.
- Low-carbon proof. Solar micro-grids now power the villages and charge liveaboard tenders. In addition, pilot projects are testing hydrogen catamarans for the next journey south.
Final Bubbles
When you drop off a RIB at Elphinstone at dawn and watch soft corals glow in slanted light, you float in more than seawater. You drift inside a 40-year experiment that turned raw curiosity into a model for sustainable adventure travel. The impatient engineers and pickup-truck nomads of the late 1980s did more than place Marsa Alam on the map. They rewrote the story of Red Sea diving for every generation that follows.
